Yellow Paint
by ArjoForever
Summary: A fic that I wrote with CaitlinWalker :) Arthur and Joan paint Baby Campbell's nursery. Set early season 4. As much as I would love to, I do not own the show and full credit must go to the wonderful cast and crew who do!


**Dedicated to our friend Belle! **

**Yellow Paint**

Joan dumped the heavy tub of paint into the trolley with a loud thud. Arthur peered into the trolley with a confused look on his face. "What's that for?" He asked her.

"Face-painting, you clown. What do you think?" He stared blankly back at her.

"Um, well if that's what you're going for, I think the kids' section was back there…I'm not sure that stuff will wash off, you know." Now she stared blankly at him, half amused yet other half worried that he was really that stupid. "It was called a joke."

"Oh…and I was, um, joking too, silly." She glared.

"Did you just call me silly?" Arthur's face turned white with fear. She laughed. "Kidding, Arthur." He let out a sigh of relief. Pregnancy had changed this woman.

"We're gonna paint the nursery." Joan stated. Arthur was confused again.

"I thought we were gonna wait until we know if we are having a boy or a girl and paint the nursery blue or pink?" Arthur watched his wife who was so happy and giddy and acting like an excited five year old kid on Christmas morning.

"Yeah, but I am way too excited and I just wanted to start painting it now and start buying baby stuff because…it will start to feel more real." Joan explained. Arthur pulled her into his arms.

"Then let's get painting as soon as we get home." Joan held him even tighter and let out what sounded like a "yay". She had wished for this baby for so long.

"Is it just me or does this room look a lot bigger when you go to paint it?" Joan shrugged her shoulders.

"If you say so, Arthur." She turned to the door.

"I do. Hey, where are you going?" She turned back to face him, a smile on her lips.

"Gonna put my fat pregnant feet up. That's where."

"Hey, this was your idea. Don't think so, missy. Don't use that excuse on me."

"Sorry, Arthur. Who's carrying this kid?" He looked at her as if it was a trick question.

"You?"

"Correct."

"And?"

"And? Why don't you try carrying this kid, huh? See how you'd like it?"

"C'mon, Joan. You drag me to those classes full of crazy, hormonal pregnant women. Don't you think I've suffered enough?"

"No."

"Oh, okay."

Joan returned to the nursery to find Arthur carelessly splattering paint over one of the walls.

"No, no, you're doing it wrong!" Joan whined. Arthur stepped back from the wall and raised his eyebrows.

"Okay, one, how can I possibly paint a wall wrong and two, you asked me to do all the work, remember?"

"You're right, I should have known you wouldn't do the job to a high standard." Joan replied with a smirk. Arthur pouted.

"Well that was mean." He said. Joan took a step closer to him.

"Give me the brush." She ordered as her hand reached out to grab it from his hand but Arthur was too fast and moved away. She glared and tried again but he was once again too fast.

"Arthur, give me the brush." She demanded in a very scary tone but he was enjoying this too much. Joan moved quicker this time and managed to get a hand over his that was holding the brush and her other hand on the little bit of the paint brush handle poking out from his hand. They struggled for a few minutes to gain possession of the brush when eventually Joan managed to pry it from his fingers. This did not end well as the force made her arms difficult to control and the paint brush with yellow paint on the end of it went flying into her face.

He fought off a laugh that could easily piss of his hormonal wife. "Babe…you got a…little bit of paint." He hovered a finger around her face. "Hey, guess we're face-painting now, huh?"  
"Don't. Arthur Campbell. Just don't."

"Oh and great colour too, Marge." He added with a wink.

"Marge?"

"Simpson."

"Oh, you are so gonna pay."

"For what? This is your fault."

"Mine? How is it my fault that you are so damn useless?"

"Because you're the one that married me."

"Boy, do I regret that now."

"And I love you too."

"Arthur," she whined. _Shit. Here come the mood swings. As if Joan Campbell wasn't crazy and unpredictable enough. _

"I'm sorry, honey." _Shit. Here come the tears. _"No, no, no. It's okay, sweetheart." He welcomed her into his arms as he tried to hush her.

"No, I'm sorry honey," her tears soaked his shirt. "I'm sorry. Marrying you was the best decision I ever made."

"Same here, Babe. But no, I should be sorry. For being useless as you said. It's okay. I'm sorry." At that second, she looked up to him, with red and wide eyes.

"Ha. Got you. You are useless." _What?_

"Wait…you were joking?" _Why would she do that to him?_ _Didn't she know that it was wrong to toy with a man who genuinely cared about his wife? _

"Maybe, oh, I don't know anymore. One minute I hate you, the next I think you're the most wonderful human being ever."

"And that was before you got pregnant."

"True."

"So what are you feeling now?" She wrapped her arms around his neck, resting them on his shoulders.

"Like Cinderella who is head over heels in love with her Prince Charming." Arthur grinned.

"Good answer, Mackenzie." He leaned down and locked his lips with hers. She patted his chest.

"Okay, let's get started on this nursery. Together." Joan told him as she picked up a paintbrush.

Arthur bounced on the pads of his feet, arms behind his back, at the doorway as his wife paced the perimeter, going over every square inch with her famed Joan neurosis and dedication.

"Not bad…" she muttered to herself. "Not bad at all. Good work, Arthur Campbell."

"Pleasure working with you." He smiled, delighted to have passed the test and meet her _very_ high standards. "We make a good team."

"You make a good husband." She grinned as she leaned into his side. He wrapped his arm around her. "And you make a wonderful wife."

"Just one thing." Uh-oh…did she finally eye a patchy area somewhere? Or that tiny little speck of paint that he'd dripped on the carpet? Damn that woman would no doubt give him a heart attack one of these days. When she wasn't making his heart race every time she walked into a room, she was making his heart pound with fear.

"Yes, honey?"

"You said work with me…no. You work _for _me." He breathed a sigh of relief, a smile spreading to his lips. "Of course I do…my job is to make my beautiful, lady feel as special as possible."

"Is that so? Well you do a damn fine job. You deserve a wage rise or something."

"Ha, I know I do but I just recently got the best bonus ever."

"And what was that?" He pulled her closer, tighter, never wanting to let go. "A baby." The best bonus ever. Because he had never been happier.

"Too much, Arthur."

"Too much what?"

"Handsome, wonderful, perfect." She smiled widely, her eyes twinkling. "Too much of the man I want to spend the rest of my life with."

"Okay, let's put this paint away." Arthur said as he bent down to pick up the tub of paint on the floor.

"Arthur?" Joan called. "Little help?" Arthur stood up and turned around to see what his wife needed help with. Arthur could feel his face become wet and something began to drip down his face, as he came face to face with his wife- or a paint brush. A paint brush that was covered in yellow paint. Joan collapsed into a fit of giggles, Arthur's face was priceless. He was shocked. His lips turned up into a half smile as he removed some paint from his face with his hand.

"Okay, that was rude."

"That was payback for painting me like a minion and laughing about it!" Joan replied still laughing. Arthur shook his head. "It's such a shame that that action is gonna stop you from getting your surprise I had planned." This statement stopped Joan's giggles.

"What? Surprise? What surprise?" Arthur smirked and shrugged his shoulders.

"Guess you'll never know now." Joan pouted.

"No! Please tell me!" Joan whined.

"Nope."

"Arthur Campbell, I know for a fact that I have ways of getting information out of you."

"Maybe," he winked. "But I know for a fact that I can outrun a pregnant lady any day of the week."

"Arthur…" she began to warn him. "Tell me!" Joan demanded. He laughed and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Okay, fine, I'll make a deal with you," He began and Joan listened very carefully. "I will do better than _tell _you what your surprise is, I'll _show _you." Joan's face lit up and she instantly agreed. "If," He spoke a little louder so that she heard him over all her excitement of the surprise. "You go keep yourself busy in the living room while I get your surprise ready." He could see her hesitating, slowly losing her

excitement. "I promise it won't take long." Arthur told her. "Thirty minutes. An hour at most."

"An hour?!" Joan repeated. Arthur thought about it. He could be pretty useless sometimes.

"Could be a little longer…" He admitted.

"Arthur…" He pressed a finger to her lips to silence her.

"Honey, I promise it will be worth it. So, do we have a deal?" Joan thought about his offer for a few seconds before she nodded. "Deal." Arthur grinned and began to move her towards the nursery door.

"Okay get out of here. The longer you stay, the longer it will take for you to see your surprise."

One hour later, Arthur was ready to show Joan her surprise. He could hear music playing through the house as he went to search for Joan in the living room. He found her lying on the sofa asleep. She was clutching her iPhone in her hand that was playing the Shane Filan music he had heard. He kneeled down beside the sofa and kissed her forehead. She awoke at this and gave him a sleepy smile.

"Hey." She whispered.

"Hey, sweetie. You okay?" She nodded.

"Just a little tired." She responded quickly sitting up. "So do I get to see my surprise?" She asked enthusiastically, clearly much more awake. Arthur chuckled at this. Joan was a big kid sometimes. Arthur stood and held out his hands taking hers in his and pulled her to her feet. He lead her to nursery as they walked hand in hand. He gently pushed the nursery door open allowing Joan to enter. She walked into the room they had painted just a few hours ago to find that in the centre of the room stood a beautiful white crib. "Arthur…" Joan couldn't stop staring at the crib. She made her way over to it and placed her hands on it and ran her hands along the smooth wood with a big smile on her face. Joan then noticed the baby mobile that was hanging above the crib with soft animal toys hanging from it. She reached up to hold the toys in her hand. There was a zebra, giraffe, tiger, lion and penguin. Arthur stood beside her and saw the tears that were glistening in her eyes.

"Honey, you okay?" She nodded and finally turned to look at him. He pointed at the crib. I thought that this was the nicest one in the store but if you don't like it…" She silenced him with a kiss. When she stood back to look at him again, she pointed at the crib.

"Thank you, Arthur. I love it. It's beautiful and I can't wait until the day we put our adorable, sleeping baby in it." Arthur picked up a box that was on the ground beside the crib.

"Just a couple of things I picked up." He explained as he placed the box in her hands. Joan opened the box to reveal some baby supplies. There were baby monitors, pacifiers, some small soft toys and two matching white baby grows that had 'I love mommy' and 'I love daddy' on the front of them. She held the soft vests in her hands picturing Baby Campbell wearing them. Joan couldn't stop smiling. She found it adorable that he had already bought stuff for their baby. He was excited. Not that she was surprised. She knew that he had wanted to be a daddy for a long time. And finally, he was going to be. .Joan wrapped her arms around him pulling him into a hug.

"You were right. The surprise was worth the wait. Just like our baby." Arthur released her from their embrace so that he could place his hands on her stomach and she moved hers on top of his.

"Not long now." Arthur told her causing another smile to appear on her face.

"Not long now." She agreed.


End file.
